Municipalities to keep count of surviving saplings

Environmentalists claim that only about 10% of total saplings planted survive

Environment Minister Imran Hussain had stressed the need for monitoring plantation drives.FIle photo

After Environment Minister Imran Hussain stressed the need for effective monitoring of tree plantation drives in the Capital, the three civic bodies have planned to keep a tab on the survival rates of saplings planted this season.

At present, the civic agencies only keep a count of the number of saplings planted every year between July and September. However, environmentalists claim that only about 10% of saplings survive. “We generally plant more saplings knowing that around 20% of these will not survive. We are also nearing completion on the tree census, whereby all trees in our jurisdiction were numbered,” said a senior official of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

SDMC officials added that the zonal in-charges had been ordered to not only keep a count of the saplings planted, but also assess the final outcomes of the drives in their respective areas.

Initiatives by NDMC

The New Delhi Municipal Council, meanwhile, has roped in a tree ambulance and a team that undertakes surgeries on old trees to prolong their lifespan. The Delhi Forest Act, 1994, however, mandates that the municipalities only account for the number of trees. There is no protection plan in place.

Targets set

By August 23, the north corporation intends to plant 1 lakh saplings. Of these, 37,455 have been planted. The south and the east corporations have set targets of 1.5 lakh and 80,000 saplings, respectively.